After suffering through a couple of years of horrible insomnia in my early 40’s, getting good sleep is something I value greatly. I’m an early riser as discussed here and find the 3 to 6am slot most productive for creative thinking. But to rise before 5 am and still get 8 hours means getting to bed before 9 pm. 40% of respondents in a recent survey say they too are early risers and prefer to wake around dawn, but many get to bed too late to log an optimal amount of sleep. Studies suggest that sleep deprivation increases the risk of cancer, heart attack, and Alzheimer’s. See ‘Sleep Should be prescribed’ what those late nights could be costing you, here are some takeaways:
■ Two-thirds of adults in developed nations fail to obtain the nightly eight hours of sleep recommended by the World Health Organisation.
■ An adult sleeping only 6.75 hours a night would be predicted to live only to their early 60s without medical intervention.
■ A 2013 study reported that men who slept too little had a sperm count 29% lower than those who regularly get a full and restful night’s sleep.
■ If you drive a car when you have had less than five hours’ sleep, you are 4.3 times more likely to be involved in a crash. If you drive having had four hours, you are 11.5 times more likely to be involved in an accident.
■ The time taken to reach physical exhaustion by athletes who obtain anything less than eight hours of sleep, and especially less than six hours, drops by 10-30%.
■ There are now more than 100 diagnosed sleep disorders, of which insomnia is the most common.
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